Search for missing Kenhorst man turns up empty

For eight days, Bradley Verret's loved ones have shared their anguish on social media over his disappearance.

Recent Facebook posts by family members indicated they fear the worst.The 26-year-old Kenhorst man was last seen leaving Trooper Thorn's on Morgantown Road the evening of Feb. 7, according to Reading police, who also patrol Kenhorst.There was security camera footage of him walking past his car and disappearing in the direction of the Schuylkill River.A graduate of both Gov. Mifflin High School and Albright College, Verret resided with his parents, Scott and Lyn.Capt. Matthew Schappell said police do not believe the disappearance is the result of foul play. They are investigating it as a missing person case, he said.Searches along the Schuylkill River were conducted by ground and air late last week, Schappell said. A state police helicopter was deployed twice to scan the river and surrounding area.On Saturday, volunteers with the Reading Scuba Team assisted a K-9 tracking team from Northeast Search and Rescue based in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, in searching along the river banks near south Reading.Schappell said a sneaker believed to have belonged to Verret was found near an island in the area of the Berks County Fire Training Center off Route 10, just inside the city's southern boundary."We're doing everything we can to try to locate this guy," Schappell said.Efforts to reach Scott Verret for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful. However, on Friday he told the Reading Eagle that his son would not just take off without telling him where he was going. The pair often rode bikes on the Thun Trail, which is not far from their home and Trooper Thorn's."We do everything together, hiking and mountain biking and walking, and this is not something he would do," Scott Verret had said.Bradley Verret's bank and credit card accounts have shown no activity, nor have any texts or calls been made on his cellphone, investigators said. Anyone with information that could help locate Verret is asked to call Reading police at 610-655-6116.Contact Steve Henshaw: 610-371-5024 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.

Steven Henshaw | Reporter

Reporter Steven Henshaw covers the police and crime beat for the Reading Eagle.